Undercover
by 12DEHD
Summary: When 2 young girls are put into WITSEC, Mary and Marshall are forced to change their daily lives. Set before Mary and Raph break the engagment. Rated T cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I'm the "H" in DEHD. Reviews mean love!

Disclaimer: I don't own In Plain Sight. If I did, it would've had a beautiful Mary/Marshall ending!

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Mary Shannon glanced at her partner over top over top of the case file she was pretending to read. To her surprise, Marshall was totally zoned out, glaring at her engagement ring. She wiggled her finger and Marshall snapped out of it, his eyes flying to her face. Giving him her usual smirk, she asked, "What's the matter, Doofus? Jealous?"

Her partner rolled his eyes and said "About what? You or that sparkling ring?"

Without an answer, they both turned back to their work. The office was in the process of falling into a comfortable silence when Stan stepped out of his office and called his two marshals to the conference room.

Once they were seated, Stan passed both inspectors a new case file. Each folder had the picture of two young girls, obviously sisters, smiling widely and waving at the camera. Mary couldn't help but smile at the happiness on their faces, but found herself wondering what these innocent girls had seen that sent them into WITSEC. As though he could read minds, Stan spoke up,  
"These two, Erin and Paige Franks, were witnesses to the murder of their parents, Steve and Jessica. Apparently, the father got himself tangled up with some international smugglers."

"What do they smuggle?"  
"Just about everything: drugs, guns, people. Anyways, the men who killed the girls' parents HAVE been identified, but have yet to be captured, so the DOJ has a special request for us."

Stan silenced himself as Mary and Marshall opened the case files. The two marshals looked up at Stan. Everyone stared at each other for a minute, and then Marshall broke the silence.

"Stan, what's the DOJ's special request?"

Stan grinned while saying, "Because of the importance of this case, the DOJ doesn't want the girls to be left alone, or even be put up for adoption in the WITSEC community. They asked me to have two of my inspectors stay with the girls, undercover, of course, as... well... I'm not sure how to put this..."

Mary snapped, "Jesus, Stan, spit it out!"

His grin growing, he replied, "Well, Mary, Marshall. Let me just be the first person to welcome you both to parenthood!"

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Sorry that this chapter was so short, I promise to try to make the next one longer! Please review!  
-H


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Guys! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, I love hearing what you think. And thanks to those who favorited this story! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own In Plain Sight.

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Marshall's eyes widened, and Mary's jaw dropped. If she had been drinking her coffee, she would have spit it onto Stan. Mary turned to look at her partner, then punched his arm.

"OW, Mare! What the heck was that for?"  
"For smiling like that! You have to do this, too!"  
Marshall smirked and answered, "That's why I'm smiling."

Mary scowled and spun back to face Stan. "And WHY can't you and Eleanor do this?"  
Straight-faced, Stan replied, "The DOJ believes that Eleanor and I are... Past our prime for parenting."  
Marshall and Mary looked at each other, grinning like hyenas, and started snickering.  
"So basically _you're _too old to do it."

Stan turned a light shade of pink and said, "Well, I wouldn't put it like _that_. They said that we would just be better off as..."  
Marshall cut his boss off, saying "Grandparents?"

Mary laughed even louder as the pink on Stan's face turned a deep crimson.  
"No, Aunt and Uncle. Marshall, Eleanor is your sister, and I am an old family friend."

"Emphasis on _OLD_, right?"

"Knock it off, Mary."

Marshall stood contemplating what Stan had said, and nodded cautiously. He asked, "How realistic will this undercover... life... be? House? Will Mare and I need new names? How will this affect our jobs?"

Stan quieted his agent with a raised hand. "As I said, this is an _extremely _delicate mission, so we are making it as realistic as we possibly can. Yes, we have a few houses you need to choose from. No, you'll still be Mary and Marshall. Well, Shepard, of course. And about your jobs... Marshall, you will be coming in as usual, but Mary..."

The blonde marshal raised her head from the file that she had busied herself with reading. Narrowing her eyes, she asked "What about _Mary_?"

Stan braced himself and said, "For the time that the girls are still in danger, or the DOJ thinks that they are, you..." He murmured something as he trailed off.  
"What was that, Stan?" She said, leaning towards her significantly shorter boss.

He spoke up, and repeated his past phrase, saying, "You won't be allowed to work."

Mary crossed her arms and glared at her boss. "Why not? What about my witnesses? Stop moving, Marshall."  
Marshall, who had been inching his way towards the door to avoid an all-out Mary temper tantrum, stopped and grinned at his partner sheepishly. "I wasn't..."

Mary stayed facing Stan. He sighed, and tried to calm his hostile agent like one would an angry animal; head tilted, palms exposed. She growled under her breath, but looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer. Looking up, he said, "Marshall will handle all your witnesses."

Marshall frowned, as if to say, "Wait, I have to put up with witnesses that are used to _HER_? OH, crap."

Mary looked to Marshall again, and nodded, signifying her acceptance, no matter how hesitant, to this strange plan. Marshall relaxed, and Stan released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He looked at the two marshals, and said,

"Oh, one more thing. You absolutely, positively, must NOT come into contact with anyone from your normal life. That includes friends, family..."

Mary's face broke into a huge smile, showing how glad she was that she wouldn't have to put up with Jinx or Brandi. "Well, THAT is the best news I've heard all day!"

Stan hesitated, then said, "Mary, that means you can't call or talk to Raph, either."  
Marshall stared at his partner, and felt his heart swell as he saw the small grin that graced her face for a split second, before it was gone and she answered with a curt nod.

There was a moment of silence, with Marshall staring at Mary, and Mary staring at Stan, and Stan reaching into an envelope that neither of the others had noticed before that moment. Marshall turned his attention from Mary to his boss just as Stan pulled his hand out of the envelope, grasping two golden rings. He tossed one to Marshall, and handed the other one to Mary. Stan grinned as he walked around to the door, and summoned Eleanor into the conference room. From the look on her face, she seemed as though she had heard the entire conversation.

Stan guided Mary and Marshall into positions facing each other, and had Eleanor sit down at the table, arms crossed and face set in a smug smile. Stan looked at each of the agents, clapped his hands together, and motioned for them to step closer together.

He paused, then instructed them to put the rings on while he said, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride!"

Eleanor giggled as Marshall turned pink and Mary glared at her superior and marched to sit next to her.

After the awkward silence subsided, Marshall turned to face Stan, and asked, "So, Stan, when are the girls getting here?'

As he finished his sentence, the door to the elevator dinged open, and voices could be heard entering the hallway. Stan turned to his friends, and said with a grin,

"That would be them!"

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Sorry this took awhile to post, but now that school's out, I should be posting more regularly! By the way, you see that button at the bottom of the page? You know, the one that says review? I know you can see it! Yeah, that button will be your new best friend if you poke it and write me a note! ;-) Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

-The "H" in DEHD


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, world! Guess who's (finally) back with another chapter. No droning, I'll just let you get on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own In Plain Sight.

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Mary tilted her head to better let the cool water splash on her face as she stood in the shower in "her" new master bathroom. _I have to admit,_ she thought as she stepped out and grabbed a plush towel, _it's nice not to have Brandi and Jinx just walking in on me while I'm trying to have some time to mysel- _Her train of thought was interrupted by the door to the bathroom opening and Marshall waltzing into the room, stopping dead in his tracks when he looked up and saw his half naked partner, covered only by her towel. He paled as the look on her face turned murderous. Inching backwards, eyes upward, he was in the process of opening the door when a bar of soap hit the wall three inches from his head. His head snapped back to Mary, where she was standing with her towel wrapped securely around her body, a bottle of shampoo ready and aimed at his head. Marshall ran out of the room, and slammed the door a split second before he heard the crash and splatter of the bottle hitting the door.

Marshall leaned his back against said door, listening to the cursing of Mary as she started to clean up the shampoo. Soft giggles could be heard from the hallway, and Marshall turned in time to see a little blonde head pop back away from the door. He slowly got up, and moved along the walls to the doorway. He slowly reached for the handle, and threw open the door, revealing Erin and Paige crouching behind it. Paige looked up at him with her four year old baby blue eyes sparkling, showing the young girl's joy at being in a house again, one she knew she could stay in, at least for a while. But her sister was a different story. Although Erin was smiling along with her sister, Marshall saw the pain in her eyes, and beyond that, the fear. He had noticed signs earlier, when he and his "wife" had first met the girls.

_The elevator doors closed, and the door to the office opened, revealing a sleazy looking lawyer holding the hand of a blonde little girl, with an older brunette trudging along behind. The marshals walked out to meet the group. Stan stood slightly ahead of the others, reaching his hand out to the lawyer, who introduced himself as Steven Waters. _  
_ "Where are the agents you promised?" Waters said, dropping the girls' hands. _  
_"Hi, I'm Marshall Mann. I'll be handling this case with my partner, Mary."_  
_ Mary stepped forward. "I'm Mary Shannon. Although, according to Stan," she glared at the man in question, "My new name is, ah, Mom." At the stern looks from both Stan and Marshall, she rolled her eyes and said, "I mean, Mary Shepard."_  
_ Marshall left Mary and Stan to talk things over with Steven while he followed Eleanor and the girls into the kitchen area. Eleanor saw Marshall following her, and smiled to herself. She turned to address the girls. "I have some work to do. Would you mind staying with Marshall? Maybe he can get you some juice? Would you like that?" The younger girl smiled and nodded. The older one looked at Marshall skeptically, but still moved her head, albeit more slowly than her sister. Marshall smiled kindly at the girls, grabbing each of the girls a juice box out of the fridge. He crouched in front of them, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. _  
_ "Hi girls! My name is Marshall. What's yours?"_

_The younger sister gave Marshall a toothy grin, saying "My name is Paige!" When she saw that her sister wasn't going to give an answer she continued, "And that's Erin. She's kinda quiet." When Paige saw her sister's face turn sour, she immediately added, "Plus she's really smart! She knows, like, ALL the Shakespeare quotes." Marshall grinned widely, turning to Erin, who had moved to sit in the chair nearest the small group. "Really? I know some Shakespeare myself." Then, clearing his throat, Marshall went on to quote, "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Without hesitation, Erin spouted off, "Hamlet, Act Two, Scene Two." _

_Marshall smiled, glancing at Paige to see her beaming, too. He looked back and said, "That's amazing! You didn't even have to think about it! I can barely do that." The girl smiled slightly, looking down at her juice box and blushing at the compliment. The joy was short lasted though, as a hardness returned to her eyes. An attempt to block out as much emotion as humanly possible. It almost reminded him of Mary..._

Mary walked out of the bathroom, still wrapped in a towel, practically growling at Marshall. The two girls looked at her face and giggled, but scurried away down the hall, leaving Marshall to fend for himself. He grinned sheepishly at the angered marshal, and took off after the girls. Mary simply rolled her eyes as she closed the door. She made her way to the closet, grimacing as she looked at the clothing selection. _I know I'm supposed to be the typical mother, but this is just ridiculous. _She reached in and pulled on a white sundress that fell just above her knees. Snug at the top, a blue bow around her waist, Mary looked like the epitome of a 50's housewife. _I don't understand why I couldn't keep my own clothing. This stuff looks stupid. _

As Mary walked down the hallway, she could hear the sound of young girls giggling. She walked into the living room, and saw Marshall through the french doors leading to the pool that Mary had insisted upon. He was looking around for the Erin; Paige was across the pool, waving him closer. When Marshall got close enough to the edge, Mary watched as Erin crept up behind the tall man and jumped, pushing him into the water. When he didn't come up immediately, Paige ran over to the side her sister was on, and both the girls leaned over the pool, trying to figure out where their "father" was. When the girls were leaning nearly all the way over the pool, Marshall's hands flew out of the water, grabbing both of the girls and dragging them in with him.

Mary stood at the doors, on the outside of this scene, grinning slightly as the trio splashed around in the water and succeeded in drenching nearly every square inch of the deck around them, save the square she was standing on. Marshall looked over at Mary, and leaned down to whisper something to the girls. They all looked at Mary and started laughing. Mary, unable to keep her distance any longer, moved closer to the pool, not yet at the edge, but close enough that she could hear them.

"What did you say, Marshall? Seriously."

When Marshall just grinned up at her, she glared at him to signal her annoyance. The girls giggled to themselves, and Mary noticed them staring at Marshall's back intently. She stood on tiptoe enough to see the countdown on his fingers reach one. A wave of ice-cold water flew over Marshall's head. Mary stood there in shock, spewing water out of her mouth, as Marshall hopped out of the water and ran to his partner. The girls shrieked in delight as the man picked Mary up, cradled her to his chest, and ran back to the pool. Mary pounding on his chest the whole way, Marshall jumped cannonball style into the water, splashing the girls and dragging Mary to the bottom of the pool with him.  
The couple came out of the water, Mary sputtering, and Marshall grinning like a madman. When Mary climbed out of the pool, she turned to her partner and glared as she said, "Marshall, you _numbnuts_. I'm wearing a dress." The man shrugged and said, "I know. Does it matter?"  
Mary threw up her arms and said, "A _white _dress. I'm wearing a white dress, and you just tossed me in the pool." When Marshall still looked confused, she continued in exasperation "Look down, Doofus." Marshall gulped as he noticed the dark outline of a bra under Mary's dress. He looked up at her with wide eyes. He stammered as he tried to speak, "I- well, I- um, ah. Sorry?"  
The girls, who had climbed out of the pool in the time this conversation took, had run into the pool shed and grabbed towels for all of them. They giggled as they walked over to Mary. Erin spoke up as she handed her a towel.  
"Ah, _Mom_? I think we have visitors."  
Mary spun around to face a very amused looking couple with a young boy standing behind them. The woman had her dark hair tied back with a bow, and was carrying a pie. The man had short dirty blonde hair, the same as the little boy. The trio stood by the slightly opened gate that shut their backyard off from the rest of the world. Or at least it was supposed to.  
Instinctively, Mary wrapped her towel around herself to shield off any unwanted attention. The two "families" stood in silence for a moment, both waiting for the other to move first. Luckily for Mary and Marshall, the other family gave in to the stare-down. The little boy stepped forward towards Mary, sticking out his hand and grinned, displaying his missing front teeth. He said loudly, "M'name's Ben!"  
Marshall chuckled as Mary shook the child's hand uncertainly, and walked over to the parents. The man took this as his cue to move and offered Marshall a hand, saying, "I'm sorry for intruding. I'm Adam, Adam Miller. And this is my wife, Erica. We live next door, and when we saw the moving van yesterday, she couldn't help but make you a pie." Adam grinned widely at the other man, his arm casually around his wife's waist.  
Erica smiled sweetly, handing Marshall the pie; the sweet smell of cherry reached his nose. He inhaled deeply, and said, "My name's Marshall Shepard; that's my wife Mary. The girls back there are our daughters Erin, she's the eldest, and Paige, she's the younger sister. They're seven and four, respectively." He was about to say something else when Mary walked over and slipped her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder. She sniffed too, and said sweetly, "That smells heavenly. Thank you for the warm welcome."  
Erica looked quite pleased with the compliments to her cooking. Adam gave his wife's shoulder a quick squeeze before both paused the conversation to watch their son introduce himself to the Shepard girls, particularly Paige, who looked around the same age as him. Mary and Marshall copied their new neighbors, turning around in time to see Ben slip off his flip-flops and grab Paige's hand. The two children ran to the pool and jumped in, drenching the drying Erin, who scowled at her little sister.  
"I would invite you both to stay for lunch, but I need to make a trip to the grocery store. We're out of shampoo, among other things." Mary said, turning back to the couple. Marshall snickered, remembering the mess in the bathroom. Erica smiled, and said, "That's quite alright. But Mary, we really must get together sometime. There's so much for us to talk about!"  
The blonde grimaced slightly, but regained her previous cheerful demeanor. "Of course! We _are_ neighbors now."  
"Of course. Lunch tomorrow? I think I'm free- That sound good?" Erica questioned Mary. The woman nodded, "Sounds perfect. You should bring Ben; he really seems to get along well with the girls."  
Marshall looked on in amazement as Mary made plans with their new neighbor.  
_She's actually socializing with people! _He thought in astonishment. _Without being forced. Well, you could call it that, but that's beside the point. _His thought process was jolted to a halt by Mary elbowing him in the arm and saying pointedly, "_Right_, Marshall? Want to join us back in the _real_ world, please?"  
The lanky agent nodded his head enthusiastically, replying, "Of course, Mare! Whatever you say." He threw Mary a look that clearly asked, _What did I just agree to?_ She replied with a look that openly showed delight, and he could make out the glint in her eyes that always meant something bad was going to happen, usually to him. Marshall groaned internally.  
_What have we gotten ourselves into?_

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Well, it IS slightly longer than the first two, if that makes up for anything. My life has been surprisingly busy since the end of last school year, so I never could find time to write! Anyway, enough about my boring life. Review, please (Even if you only want to yell at me for the, ah, _minor_ delay in posting)!  
-H


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